Marxism

I have seen exactly one Marx Brothers movie. At the time, I had only vaguely heard of Groucho Marx - seen his caricatures here and there, seen the Groucho Marx disguise (you know, the one with the nose, moustache and shaggy eyebrows attached to a pair of glasses..although he didn't really have a moustache and eyebrows like that.. effect of grease paint!) on cartoons, etc. I didn't even know he was an actor, let alone a class-comedian.

The movie I saw was "A Night at the Opera". And it was brilliant! I recommend everyone see it atleast one time. I have never seen that kind of comedy before. It's hard to describe.. everything that comes out of Groucho's mouth is fantastic and they're usually insulting. He speaks so fast that for me, there was a delay of a second or two before my brain actually registered what had been said. I imagine thats how the person Groucho just insulted might feel as well...

Apparently, Groucho honed his wit as a result of being a middle child. It was his attention-getting gimmick. If he used writers at all, their contribution was probably at a minimum. His lines have a signature, unimitiable Groucho feel to them. His movies seem to be result of major ad-libbing. Even in his everyday life, Groucho was always switched on.

I don't mean to ignore Harpo and Chico Marx, but Groucho was always the star attraction..

Here's a few quotes from A night at the Opera:

• That's the fire escape. And, uh... that's a table, and this is a room, and there's the door leading out, and I wish you'd use it, I... I want to be alone!


• Can you sleep on your stomach with such big buttons on your pajamas?


• Was that a high C, or Vitamin D?


• Say! Now, how did those two beds get together?
  Well, you know how those things are, they breed like rabbits.


• Do you follow me?
  Yes.
  Well stop following me or I'll have you arrested!


• He couldn't come, so he gave me his ticket. He couldn't get dressed, so he gave me his clothes.

Since that first movie, I have searched high and low for another Marx Brothers movie but for some reason I can't find any. None of my VCD libraries seem to have them. It's a conspiracy I tell you! ..or something like that.